Tag Archives: career

Procrastination makes even the most boring memos and reports seem interesting. If you need to catch up on your reading, this is the perfect time to stay up to date.

Procrastinators are usually labeled as unproductive, lazy and undisciplined. However, all that does not have to be true. Believe it or not, but productive procrastination is actually conducive to the best ideas you have ever had. If used efficiently, procrastination can actually prove a lot more productive than you think. Our brain works in mysterious ways. You can pull little tricks on your brain so you can work harder. At times when you are avoiding a task, it’s time you pay attention to things you often ignore. Here’s how you can be productive while procrastinating:

Organize Your Workstation

The next time you are dreading a presentation or facing a difficult task, organize your workstation or your room at home. Organizing all your papers, files and folders will actually help you in the long run. You will no longer waste time looking for important documents. Most people waste a lot of time looking for files and folders inside their computers. Why not organize your desktop so you have easier days at work? Organizing your workstation will reduce the risk of errors and will cut down on all the time you spend looking for files inside cluttered drawers.

Run Errands

Do you need to set up a dentist appointment or pick up something from the grocery store? Running errands while procrastinating can help make the most tedious and trivial errands seem appealing. The next time you are too lazy to study for your test or finish your assignment, instead of sitting idly and staring at the window, get up and take care of your errands.

Take the Time to Start Networking

Do you have a bunch of contacts in your phone but never get the time to send a simple message. Well, here is your chance. Procrastination provides you the perfect opportunity to get back to all those emails. Networking can prove quite useful in the long run, especially if you are a budding entrepreneur. The next time you are procrastinating, it is time for you to make some new friends or potential clients.

Catch Up On Your Reading

Procrastination makes even the most boring memos and reports seem interesting. If you need to catch up on your reading, this is the perfect time to stay up to date. All that knowledge can certainly prove more useful the next time you have a presentation, so the next time you are avoiding a dreaded task, put your reading glasses on instead.

Plan Ahead

Instead of having nonsensical thoughts, start planning ahead. Take the time out to start a journal or record meetings and important dates on your phone so you do not miss out on something important coming up next week. Procrastination is the best time to schedule all your tasks. Have you ever faced the embarrassment of forgetting somebody’s birthday or work anniversary? This is your time to start planning ahead and noting down upcoming events. This will help you in both your personal and professional life.

So, yes, you can be productive and procrastinate at the same time. To put it simply, take care of the tasks you consider ‘unproductive’ when you want to procrastinate doing the ‘real’ stuff that matters.

Finding your niche helps you hone in on your target audience instead of shooting blind and hoping that you hit the target.

Finding your niche and carving a niche for yourself within the niche is an important part of growing and building your business. Your niche can be defined as the subset of the market which your product is specifically focusing on. For example, if you want to be a writer and can write web content, the description is unfocused. You have to find your niche and focus on it, i.e. do you prefer writing blogs, eBooks or articles, and which topics appeal most to you.

Finding your niche helps you hone in on your target audience instead of shooting blind and hoping that you hit the target. You need to find the segment of consumers which specifically wants products or services similar to what you offer. Here’s how you can focus on your niche:

Get To Know Your Target Market Inside Out

It does not matter if your target market is small. Even if your product appeals to a narrow segment of consumers, don’t be lax and try to learn as much as you can about your target audience. The better you know them, the more effectively you will be able to sell to them.

Marketing For Your Niche

Once you are sure on a niche, it is time you start focusing on marketing so you can lure in customers. How else can you appeal to your audience if you do not inform them about who you are and what you offer? Come up with some neat social media marketing strategies to inform your potential customers about you. Use social media as an interactive tool to learn more about your customers. Your aim should be to attract customers and build your network.

Emphasize on High-Quality Customer Support

For any successful brand, it is necessary they offer excellent customer service. Let your customers know you are accessible and easily reachable and that you are here to solve their problems. Foster a connection with your existing or potential clients as it will compel them to keep coming back.

Don’t Be Afraid To Take Chances

There is no such thing as the perfect time, so do not spend your entire time waiting. If you have a great idea you feel needs to get out into the world, don’t waste any time and work towards turning your dreams into reality. Be innovative. Taking risks and coming up with new ideas will make your products and services appealing to customers. Let them know you are offering an experience they would be unlikely to find elsewhere.

Risks. That word instills a sense of fear in many people. It means that you need to take yourself out of your place of comfort and do what you normally would not do. People fear taking risks because it can throw their life out of balance and create chaos. Why would we want to do something that could jeopardize our comfort? The reason we need to take risks is that this is the surest way we can achieve success. You need to learn how to get out of your comfort zone and take the risks necessary to get you closer to your dreams. Risks are the only way to get there, but you must be mindful of the best and worst times to take risks.

Do take risks to go after your dream

If you have a passion and dream that you want to make a reality, take any risks you need to get you closer to that dream. We all have one life and if you do not put yourself out there and try to achieve that dream, then you are technically not living life as you should. Why sit around and be complacent in your environment if that is not ultimately not what you want to do? Take that risk whether it is big or small. It can be a great stepping stone to your dream but be willing to commit to it and have the confidence to know that you can do it.

Don’t take risks if you aren’t confident you can handle life financially

Money is the biggest factor that usually holds us back from taking risks. We are fearful that if we take a risk, it will hurt us financially and we would not be able to recover from it. We may find that it could put us in such a jeopardizing position that our dream could never see the light of day. Don’t let this fear hold you back. Take the steps to financially secure yourself. Set aside money from your salary so you can work on being able to take risks in the future. Don’t take a risk if you aren’t confident in your abilities to save money and protect your future. But make sure you don’t linger too long in accruing money because it will only hinder your happiness.

Do take risks when you are unhappy

If you are unhappy with your life, you need to take the right course of action to change how you feel. Unhappiness in life is a real time waster. You can’t spend life being sad about the circumstances you are living. Your unhappiness will affect not only your mental state but as well as your social interactions with those around you. Unhappiness will bring negative people into your life and make you less confident in your abilities. It will hold you back from taking more risks. If you get a sense that you are unhappy with your career or life, find a way to get away and improve yourself.

Don’t take risks if it’s at the expense of another individual

Don’t take risks if what you do will hurt another person financially, physically or mentally. You want your risks to propel you closer to success, but that doesn’t mean you can walk over another person to get there. You need to earn your success with hard work and a professional reputation. Backstabbing, lying, scamming an individual in order to succeed will only breed negativity. You will destroy any relationships you have with people and be looked down upon by others. Don’t fall into this trap of thinking you need to hurt someone in order for your risks to pay off. You can achieve your dream more diligently and should aspire to do so.

Risks are necessary to achieve what you want out of life, but there is a time and place to take them. You have to be mindful of when it would be appropriate. Your dreams are not going to be accomplished if you stay static in where you are. Life often favors those who are willing to break away from their mindset and keep going. Be willing to take risks and see how everything in your world will escalate for the better.

I have a vulgar mouth. I never used to have one. Growing up I tend to be polite and found curse words to be untouchable. It was ingrained into my mind that saying such words would condemn me to hell. Then I went to college and that way of thinking no longer existed. I found myself using curse words often as well as making crude and inappropriate jokes. To this day, when I am surrounded by a group of close friends, I may make a comment that would be inappropriate in the workplace. Being vulgar and making potentially offensive remarks has no place in the office. It can affect your reputation as well as your standing with the company.

MAINTAIN A LEVEL OF PROFESSIONALISM

Working in an office setting you must make sure you always maintain a level of professionalism. There will be eyes on you throughout your career and they’ll watch your every move. Making a vulgar remark that could get you in trouble can be disastrous for your career. By engaging in the type of lingo you use outside of work, you could be setting yourself up for failure and people’s impression of you might falter.

NOT EVERYONE IS COMFORTABLE WITH IT

Not everyone in your environment will be completely comfortable with the jokes you make or the curse words you use. If you have an assistant or a supervisor, you could be putting them in an awkward position. Even if you get along well with this person, you have to make sure that they don’t feel like their job is being jeopardized by being around this crude behavior. Perhaps they don’t want to be affiliated with such candid talk and may be trying to craft a more professional demeanor. Don’t make them choose between staying friends with you or their professionalism.

APOLOGIZE AND BE MINDFUL OF WHEN YOU OFFEND

In the event that you do make a remark that is offensive, be mindful of how the people around you react. If you see people react to your statement in a worrisome way, make the effort to apologize for your actions. Don’t let it linger. Apologize for the fact that the words you used have no place in the workforce and that you will be mindful of what you say in the future. Admitting a mistake and being aware of it is very powerful and people will be receptive to that. By apologizing, you will see that you will be more mindful about what you say next time.

It’s okay to feel like you should have the freedom to speak openly. But there are certain environments where you must be conscientious of your words and how it can be interpreted. Some people may not be as open as you are and would prefer to be around others who are similar. Don’t let what you say and your comfortability in the workplace put you or anyone else in an awkward setting. Keep your crude thoughts, curse words and any vulgar statements you have to yourself and you’ll find that you will still be able to feel comfortable and free wherever you go.

How often have you sat around and thought about quitting your job? I’m sure most of us daydream about the possibility one day of getting away from the hustle and bustle of our careers and desire to spend time relaxing on a sunny, tropical beach. Wouldn’t it be a dream to be able to decide one morning that you do not want to work anymore and leave everything behind? Well, it can happen to you. Deciding to quit your job is a life change and you have to prepare yourself for what’s to come.

INDEPENDENCE

Not having a job means not having a boss looking over your shoulders. You do not have this innate fear of being reprimanded for doing a task wrong. You have the complete luxury of doing what you want and when you want. This is the ideal life because I love my independence and freedom way too much. Being able to relax and be myself, regardless of the setting I’m in is something I crave. If you want this lifestyle, quitting your job seems like the only way to achieve it.

REMOTE WORK

Granted, unless you win the lottery, quitting your job isn’t probably an ideal thing you should do. In fact, it can be seen as reckless. We understand our financial obligations to support our family and ourselves. That said, focus on the skill sets that you have and think about how they can be applied to remote work. What kind of things can you do from your home rather than go into an office? Can it be administrative work? Web development? Plan out a way where you can work from home and you’ll see that you may be happier.

FINANCIAL STRUGGLES

The drawback to quitting your job is money. Unless you have a lot in savings, you probably know that quitting is not an option. By not having a job, you may see your debt increase along with your stress level. We worry about money in this society and that’s because our whole world revolves around it. Quitting your job means there is no steady income flowing into your bank account. If you want to quit your job, you need to make sure you are in a good financial place to be able to justify it. Save up money and understand that even if you do quit your job, you’ll need to find a way to get income.

If you dislike your job and are unhappy about where you work then definitely consider the advantages and disadvantages of leaving your job. Prepare yourself by saving up money and honing your skills so you can do remote work from home. By being out of the office and having the luxury of working in your own space at your own time, there will be a sense of more independence and freedom that you never knew existed. Don’t let having a job constrain you and keep you unhappy. Life is too short to be upset about your career. Do something about it. Quitting may be the option.

Projects guide our lives. Without projects, then what do we work towards and what becomes our purpose? We live a life where we want to attain goals and we spend it trying to inch closer. We take steps forward and get pushed backward in our journey. How many projects do you have in your life going on? Are they all important to you? If so, how do you spend time splitting time between all of them? Make sure that you don’t overwhelm yourself and take on more than you can carry.

The issue with balancing multiple projects at once is you can burn yourself out fairly quickly. With so many things to think about and things you want to accomplish, it can be tiresome to always be focusing on it. For example: if you are trying to change your career by going back to school but at the same time you want to focus on exercising; starting a blog; volunteer with an organization; do side activities, you will realize that your attention is going to be split in different directions. There’s nothing wrong with having multiple things going on in your life but just be mentally aware of it and learn to be able to take a break.

Aim to hone in on one of your projects. This means that you should place a strong emphasis on the project you care the most about. Pour all your heart and energy into it and make it the primary focus of your life. By having one project you focus on more than the others, you can see your growth in that area grow exponentially. We have a tendency to get split in multiple directions that it becomes hard to get talented and succeed at one thing.

Vary up your projects and learn the value of fun. The great thing about living a life is that you have the choice of doing anything you want to do. While you can focus on your academics, try to include healthy living, exercise, side hobbies into your routine. Think about all the things that you want to do and ask yourself why it makes you happy and then go out and make time for it. The worst thing to do is to isolate yourself to one task and then forget about your life needs in other parts. By varying the different parts of your life up, you will see yourself develop into a more successful individual.

We are shaped by what we do in our lives. We learn to become better people because of our experiences. Most of us have different intentions and goals but what is similar between all of us is that we all have the passion for carrying multiple ones. If you have a lot of passion and love for a variety of experiences in your life, make sure you split your time right between them and avoid limiting yourself. At the same time, choose a project you care most deeply about and invest your heart and soul into that.

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Who is Self-Starter Anh?

My name is Anh Phan and I am a self-starter and life coach. I provide the tools you need to get things done. Join my community which encourages members to support each other in a positive manner. I can help you foster happiness in your life. I am revolutionizing what it means to be productive and content with what we already have. Let me help you become a self-starter! Read more here